Per an on-air conversation last night (7/4) with N0BVE (Don), there are some minor changes in store for the UHF end of the local HandiHam network.
The UHF side of the linked network seems to be the most over-looked aspect of the HandiHam vision. Many new hams struggle to reach the VHF 145.450 machine, when one of the UHF repeaters linked to the network would be a better option for them in terms of signal strength. They all go to the same "place", so if you can get into one of the UHF repeaters, you are also on the VHF .450 in Minnetonka. Likewise, anyone using EchoLink to access the HandiHam conference node is also transmitting on the UHF repeaters -- not just the VHF machine.
The "main" UHF machine in the linked network is the 444.650+ (114.8 PL) on the West Bank near the U of M. There's also the 443.000+ (100.0 PL) in Chaska, and the 444.325+ (131.8 PL) in Bloomington at the MSP Airport. It's been several months since the 444.850+ repeater in Edina went down, and the link to the 1.25M 223.940- went with it. I've been unable to find out any information about the plan to restore the link and repeater, but I've not heard that the effort has been abandoned, either.
The minor changes to the UHF side involve making the 444.325 a standalone repeater (i.e. not linked to the HandiHam network), and adding another repeater on 444.925+. It wasn't completely clear in my conversation with Don where the new .925 repeater would be sited.(Note: see edit at bottom of this post)
The 444.325 has decent coverage, especially to the south and east, though it kind of duplicates the coverage of the TCRC's 444.300+ (114.8 PL) repeater. On the other hand, it could also serve as a back-up to the sometimes-troubled .300 machine. The only other machine out that way is the 442.550+ (100.0 PL) in West St. Paul, though other repeaters cover that area reasonably well. In any case, the 444.325 isn't exactly a "hobby" repeater, as I've "ker-chunked" it from Long Lake Regional Park before. It remains to be seen who will "inhabit" it, however. While the number of active UHF users is growing, I think it still may be too small to keep a "new" repeater active. A comparable repeater would be the 444.375+ (114.8 PL) in Plymouth, and to say that the .375 is "under-utilised" would be an understatement. Although, the .325 in Bloomington may have built up a core group of users over the years by virtue of it's link to the HandiHam network. It's possible that these users will stick around after that link is severed.
If the new .925 repeater is sited in the same place, only linked, that would be a decent coverage outcome. The HandiHam network's coverage is weakest in the north, however. In previous on-air discussions with KG0BP (Chris) -- who is the trustee for the currently-defunct Edina .850 machine -- a plan of sorts was mentioned where the UHF .850 would use a beam pointed north in an effort to improve that situation. KD0WIL (Erik) also made an effort to improve northern coverage with a simplex link, though this alternative created some controversy. N0YNT (Matt) also made some attempts to improve coverage of the network by temporarily linking the UHF .425 to HandiHam, and also by establishing a link from the 1.25M HandiHam machine to the network by way of his N0YNT-L node. Neither of these alternative "stop-gap" measures turned out be well-received.
It's clear that the entire concept of linked repeaters is met with inarticulate disdain by many clubs, trustees, and users alike. A minority, however, have a different vision -- and that vision is slowly becoming reality on the UHF band.
EDIT: RepeaterBook is showing the 444.925 as sited in Bloomington, and in testing...with a functioning EchoLink node already. Most likely, it's at the same MSP Airport site as the .325 machine. Give it a try!
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